:00:00. > :00:00.period. An independent inquiry says evidence was ignored for suppressed
:00:00. > :00:00.by the local authority and by police. Time now for the latest
:00:00. > :00:21.business news live from Singapore. Payouts from the company behind the
:00:22. > :00:28.Fukushima disaster in Japan ` just how hard will it be hit? And milking
:00:29. > :00:34.the profits ` will China's dairy giant report stronger earnings in
:00:35. > :00:41.the face of falling prices? Hello, and welcome to Asia Business Report
:00:42. > :00:46.on BBC world news. Just what are the limits of corporate responsibility?
:00:47. > :00:52.Japan has ruled that responsibility for the suicide of a woman after the
:00:53. > :00:55.Fukushima nuclear disaster lies with the owners of the plant. The company
:00:56. > :01:00.has been ordered to pay nearly half a million dollars in compensation to
:01:01. > :01:08.the widow, who suffered severe depression. We have more from Tokyo.
:01:09. > :01:13.This man walked into court holding a picture of his dead wife. She fell
:01:14. > :01:16.into deep depression after being forced from her home by the
:01:17. > :01:23.Fukushima nuclear disaster. A month later, she took her own life. When
:01:24. > :01:29.it came, the court's decision was emphatic ` Tokyo Electric Power was
:01:30. > :01:34.guilty of causing her death. At a press conference a short time later,
:01:35. > :01:37.her husband said he was overwhelmed by the decision.
:01:38. > :01:41.TRANSLATION: When I heard the words "There is a great causal
:01:42. > :01:53.relationship", my tears would not stop. He says he only ever wanted
:01:54. > :01:58.TEP Co to apologise for the misery they caused to his wife. This could
:01:59. > :02:04.pave the way for more could cloems to toek yes Electric Power.
:02:05. > :02:08.Apparently many people are killed themselves since 2011 as a result of
:02:09. > :02:10.the nuclear disaster. Tens of thousands more were forced to flee
:02:11. > :02:16.their homes and businesses after the disaster and many still are unable
:02:17. > :02:19.to return now. And then, there is the even more thorny issue of
:02:20. > :02:24.radiation`related illnesses. Hundreds of thousands of children
:02:25. > :02:30.are being screened for possible thyroid cancer. And TEP Co's legal
:02:31. > :02:33.problems now stretch all the way to the United States. A group of
:02:34. > :02:38.sailors who served in. Gentlemanen during the disaster is filing a huge
:02:39. > :02:42.lawsuit against the company claiming they are suffering from a host of
:02:43. > :02:45.rare illnesses because they were exposed to radiation. For Tokyo
:02:46. > :02:55.Electric Power it's clear this ruling is just the beginning.
:02:56. > :03:00.Indeed, the industry is indeed a crowded one. Globally there are
:03:01. > :03:06.dozens of companies competing with each other in the dairy sector. The
:03:07. > :03:12.top company reveals its half year results later today. Many are
:03:13. > :03:16.looking for other ways to make money and the company are looking to
:03:17. > :03:21.venture into the yoghurt business. But will this pay off? We take a
:03:22. > :03:25.look at China's dairy industry. All right, it is a bull, not a cow, but
:03:26. > :03:28.it is close enough and it's right here in the centre of Shanghai's
:03:29. > :03:32.financial district where, at the half yearly results phase, analysts
:03:33. > :03:38.are viewing with some caution one industry in particular ` the dairy
:03:39. > :03:42.sector. Last year, as a result of food safety scares and other
:03:43. > :03:47.scandals, there was an increased demand for imported milk, but China,
:03:48. > :03:50.it seems, overdid it and it is now sitting on a huge stockpile `
:03:51. > :03:59.milk and prices are being depressed as a result. The big dairy companies
:04:00. > :04:04.will be hoping that the dip is shortlived and that China's changing
:04:05. > :04:10.consumer habits mean that recovery is all but inevitable. In China it
:04:11. > :04:15.is changing a lot, yes, not all traditional food, more Western food
:04:16. > :04:19.and European food, like that. And, as part of that, more milk and
:04:20. > :04:23.yoghurt as well? Why do you think that is. Yoghurt ` I love yoghurt,
:04:24. > :04:29.it's delicious. I super love it. People want to be European and
:04:30. > :04:32.international, you know. It's not like before, where people ate relies
:04:33. > :04:38.and noodles every day, it's more European. And as part of that, more
:04:39. > :04:43.milk and yoghurt? I think yoghurt is popular, because milk smells not so
:04:44. > :04:47.nice, you know, but it's from nature and the taste is so simple. But
:04:48. > :04:53.yoghurt is good for your stomach and it's more healthy and more tasty.
:04:54. > :04:57.Xhie in a's growing `` China's growing taste for milk and yoghurt
:04:58. > :05:00.isn't just good news for domestic producers, of course, but the whole
:05:01. > :05:04.global industry. It may be struggling with low prices at the
:05:05. > :05:09.moment, but the consensus is, it shouldn't be too long ` maybe later
:05:10. > :05:15.in year, maybe early next ` before it returns to its old bullish form.
:05:16. > :05:20.Staying with the dairy sector and New Zealand's dairy company says it
:05:21. > :05:24.plans to take a 20% stake in a Chinese food maker. They are
:05:25. > :05:28.spending more than $600 million in a gloel partnership with China's
:05:29. > :05:31.company to help the mainland with its rising demand for infant
:05:32. > :05:38.formula. Are you happy with what you earn? Do you think you are in the
:05:39. > :05:41.running for a pay rise? Well, a new survey was shown, that salaries
:05:42. > :05:47.across Asia Pacific are set to increase by an average of 7% in
:05:48. > :05:52.2015. The higher cost of living will probably chew up most of that extra
:05:53. > :05:57.cash. Wablgs in China could go up by 5% after inflation, and by 4% in
:05:58. > :06:01.Vietnam, they will rise less than 1% in Japan. The industry you work in
:06:02. > :06:05.is also important with the biggest pay rises tipped for the
:06:06. > :06:13.pharmaceutical and high tech sectors. An employee from Towers
:06:14. > :06:15.Watson spoke to us earlier. I think it really depends on the
:06:16. > :06:19.affordability of the company at the end of the day. If your revenues are
:06:20. > :06:22.rising more than the costs, then you can actually afford to be more
:06:23. > :06:26.aggressive with your salary increases than low cost companies.
:06:27. > :06:30.Another point to note is the differentiation, so you know, with
:06:31. > :06:34.the budgets being limited, you really need to differentiate between
:06:35. > :06:38.your critical skill employees, your average employees and your hot, hot
:06:39. > :06:42.skilled sploes. And what we mean in Singapore here, if the average
:06:43. > :06:49.increase is around 4.5%, it doesn't mean that everyone is going to get
:06:50. > :06:53.4.5%. It can actually mean that for your high potentials, or your
:06:54. > :06:59.critical skills staff, the increase could be 7% or 8% or 10% and for low
:07:00. > :07:04.performance actually the increase hob zero or you could get the
:07:05. > :07:08.inflationary increase at 2%. And you collected data from 2900 sets of
:07:09. > :07:12.responses across 20 countries in the Asia Pacific region and the salary
:07:13. > :07:17.hikes will be in pharmaceutical and in the high tech sectors, yes,
:07:18. > :07:20.because there is a need for talent there. But in the financial sector
:07:21. > :07:22.we have been going through a financial crisis over the past
:07:23. > :07:28.several years. Why still an increase there? Well, I think the increase,
:07:29. > :07:33.if you look at the pharmaceutical sector, is a lot more ` and in the
:07:34. > :07:36.high tech sector ` as compared to the financial services sector. I
:07:37. > :07:41.think everyone needs some point of increase because of the inflation.
:07:42. > :07:45.Also, what we are seeing in the financial services sector is the pay
:07:46. > :07:49.shift from pay at risk, which was very high, very variable, pay to now
:07:50. > :07:55.paying more on the base salary front. That is actually causing a
:07:56. > :08:03.movement of the pay mix in financial services. In a move that is set to
:08:04. > :08:07.create the world's third`largest fast food restaurant, Burger King
:08:08. > :08:14.says it has bought Canadian coffee and doughnuts chain Tim Horton's.
:08:15. > :08:18.This could have ramifications for many Burger King restaurants in
:08:19. > :08:23.Asia. The company will be moved to Canada ` a move that will help
:08:24. > :08:27.Burger King lower its taxes. It is a whopper deal, bringing together
:08:28. > :08:31.18,000 stores, including this one, together in 100 countries. And of
:08:32. > :08:38.course, there's big money behind it. The majority shareholder is going to
:08:39. > :08:42.be a Brazilian private equity grouped all PG Capital and it will
:08:43. > :08:44.also involve money from one of the world's richest men, billionaire
:08:45. > :08:48.investor Warren Buffett, who is putting up some of the financing. To
:08:49. > :08:52.understand why Burger King is getting into this, you can see the
:08:53. > :08:57.motto there, it says "We deliver", but the problem is that the segment
:08:58. > :09:02.or the demand, if you like, for lunch and dinner at fast food
:09:03. > :09:10.restaurants like this hasn't changed much since 2000. Yet, two doors down
:09:11. > :09:15.from here there is a Dunkin Donuts and that is busy. That's why Burger
:09:16. > :09:21.King are so keen to get their hands on the company Tim Horton's. The
:09:22. > :09:26.company is famous for its doughnuts and coffee and the two will bring
:09:27. > :09:32.together that with their burgers, in what is a whopping deal, perhaps,
:09:33. > :09:35.not without controversy. Burger King is moving its headquarters north of
:09:36. > :09:41.the border to Canada, the reason being to lower the tax bill it pays,
:09:42. > :09:44.some says. The chief exec says that wasn't the case, tax wasn't the
:09:45. > :09:48.recent behind the deal, and it was all about growth. Of course there
:09:49. > :09:51.may be some scepticism, consumers have been taking to social media to
:09:52. > :09:55.complain and the White House in the past has called these kinds of deals
:09:56. > :09:58.unpatriotic. Although their attempts to try and introduce a to ban this
:09:59. > :10:02.kind of practice failed and they were unable to pass a law before
:10:03. > :10:09.Congress went on their summer recess. A report there from New York
:10:10. > :10:11.on the megadeal between Burger King and Tim Horton's. Before we go here
:10:12. > :10:36.is a look at US consumer confidence rose more
:10:37. > :10:40.than expected in August climbing to its heist since October 2007. Thank
:10:41. > :10:52.you so much for investing your time with us. Buy for now. `` bye for
:10:53. > :10:55.now. Here are the main news stories this hour. There have been
:10:56. > :10:58.celebrations in Gaza city and some relief in Israel ` the name
:10:59. > :11:01.announcement of a long`term truce between Israel and the Palestinians.
:11:02. > :11:03.Ukraine's leader, Petro